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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25907797">Better in Purple</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostButterflyUtau/pseuds/LostButterflyUtau'>LostButterflyUtau</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Elena of Avalor (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dress shopping, Esteban being Esteban, Gen, Mirror World AU, Original Character(s), Pageant Prep</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:08:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,161</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25907797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostButterflyUtau/pseuds/LostButterflyUtau</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They said that in Paraiso everything had  'a little bit more,' including the beauty pageants. As far as Carla was concerned, 'they' were wrong. Little didn't even begin to describe the annoyance of getting ready for her first pageant in Paraiso with a coach whose tastes clashed horribly with her vision.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Better in Purple</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the EoA Discord Weekly Challenge, “Purple.”</p><p>This fic features a little bit of my OC, Andrea. Andrea is a childhood friend of Gabe’s who, after returning from studying abroad for a few years, reconnected with him and subsequently became friends with Carla. Her family (she has four older brothers) owns a large farm that helps to supply produce and other products to not only individual people, but businesses in Avalor City.</p><p>Art by Cherry. (CherryLoArt/cherrys-lullaby). Used with permission.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Come <em>on</em>, Miss Delgado! We don’t have all day!” Esteban said, crossed his arms.</p><p>Carla groaned, called from behind the fitting room stall, “This dress looks like pink lettuce! And the top doesn’t even fit right!”</p><p>Esteban rolled his eyes. “It can’t be that bad.”</p><p><em>‘Says you! Have you ever tried on a dress?’ </em>Carla thought with a huff. From the moment they’d showed up at the dress shop it had been one spat after another. Whether it was style or colour or the smallest details in the beading, everything was an issue.</p><p>She knew this pageant would be worlds different from the local ones she had done. Paraiso apparently took their “Glitz and Glamour” pageants very seriously. Big hair, big dresses, big talent, big… <em>everything</em>.</p><p>She’d put more work into rehearsing for this than all of her other pageants combined and had naively thought that getting a new dress would be exciting after Esteban had said that nothing in the royal closet was extravagant enough for such an event. But he <em>didn’t </em>say that what she wore would have to be approved by him <em>or </em>that he would be coming to the shop with her.</p><p>What was supposed to be a fun “girls’ day” shopping trip was turning into a nightmare.</p><p>Carla had tried on several dresses already and hated them all. The first one was too long and the mint green colour clashed terribly with her eyes. The second was covered in so many flowers that even Abuela said she looked like a garden. She didn’t even bother with the third because it was so big and by the time he handed her <em>this </em>one, she was already over it.</p><p>“Miss Delgado!” Esteban called again.<br/>“<em>Fine</em>! I’m coming!” Carla huffed again, used one hand to pick up her skirt and the other to hold her bodice up.</p><p>The minute she stepped out, both Luisa and Andrea exchanged the same unsure look. While blush pink was a good colour on Carla, the tulle on the skirt was layered in strips that looked, as she said, like shredded lettuce. The bodice she was clutching was noticeably loose, though that would have been easy to fix if she ended up picking it, which she wasn’t. At least they figured so given the scowl on her face as Esteban made her turn.</p><p>“I told you it was too big,” Carla muttered to herself, hiking the bodice up again as she completed another turn.</p><p>Esteban frowned, stopped her when she came back around to face him. “It’s not that bad. Nothing some tailoring and pads can’t fix.”</p><p>Carla glared in response. She didn’t need anyone – especially <em>him </em>– reminding her that she had no breasts. Finding dresses that didn’t have to be custom tailored was hard enough without annoying comments.</p><p>“I don’t want this dress,” She said, crossed her arms.</p><p>“But this is the best one so far! Besides, we’ve wasted enough time here. You still have to practice your dance and finish that chapter on Paraisoan customs,” He replied in a matter-of-fact tone that had Carla rolling her eyes.</p><p>“I don’t care. I don’t like it.”</p><p>Luisa cut in, “Why don’t you let Carla pick her own dress?”</p><p>“Yeah. The whole time we’ve been here, <em>you’ve </em>been making all the choices,” Andrea pointed out. “Carla has great taste and you haven’t given her even half a chance.”</p><p>“Great taste isn’t enough! Pageants like these have rules. Unwritten, but important. Winners wear white or pastel. This shade is perfect for the pageant and her complexion.”</p><p>“I told you that I wanted a <em>purple </em>dress,”</p><p>Esteban raised an eyebrow at her whiny tone, retorted, “You sound less like a winner and more like a child.”</p><p>“She has a point, though. Purple is her best colour,” Andrea interrupted, standing to join her friend by the mirror. She put her hands on Carla’s shoulders, gave the dress another once over. While the colour complimented her eyes fairly well, Carla looked miserable in it.</p><p>Esteban rolled his eyes. Andrea was a <em>farm hand</em>. She had been raised to feed chickens and grow vegetables, <em>not </em>compete in pageants. Granted, Carla wasn’t raised to be a pageant girl either, but, as he discovered, she had far more feminine qualities than anyone gave her credit for back in her villain days. She had decent taste and talent. Now, if only he could only get rid of the attitude.</p><p>He sighed, put a hand to his head. “The past three winners of this pageant have worn white, pastel blue and pink in that order. If we want to have even the slightest chance, we have to play it safe and elegant.”</p><p>Andrea frowned at his comment. “What’s wrong with the blue dress she competes in now? It’s perfectly elegant!”</p><p>“It’s too dark and too small. Glitz is all about big skirts and big sparkles.”</p><p><em>‘And big money,’ </em>Carla added to herself. Looking at the price tags on <em>just </em>the dresses told her that they would be spending more on this pageant than her last three combined. Between the application and entry costs, plus the inn, <em>plus</em> the new dress and shoes, she understood why Esteban was so serious about it all. She supposed that he thought that knowing that so much was being spent on her would make her more compliant, but she hated the idea of competing in a dress she disliked just to please him.</p><p>Luisa sighed, “<em>Mijo</em>, I know you mean well, but Andrea is right. Purple <em>is </em>Carla’s best colour and if she doesn’t feel good in her dress, how do you expect her to feel good on stage?”</p><p>He gave a dismissive wave. “She’s a performer. All she has to do is remember her role.” He paused, picked up another dress. “Here, try this one next.”</p><p>“Fine, but I’m going to complain the whole time,” Carla grumbled as she took the hanger and sulked back into the changing room. She tossed off the first dress, frowned when, shortly after she draped it over the door, it was yanked down over the other side to be tossed into Esteban’s ‘maybe pile.’ Most of the time she appreciated his help as her coach, but today he was insufferable.</p><p><em>‘Oooh. This one is even worse!’ </em>She thought once she secured the laces on his latest pick and turned to the mirror. She groaned again, announced as she stepped out, “I look like a cupcake!”</p><p>The moment the words were out of Carla’s mouth, Andrea laughed. The pastel pink skirt was too long and way too big for someone as petite as Carla. “She looks like my niece’s birthday cake!”</p><p>Carla crossed her arms, threw Esteban another glare. “<em>No</em>.”</p><p>“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.”</p><p>“Yes, it is,” Another voice interrupted.</p><p>Everyone in the group exchanged the same confused look, turned just in time to catch one of the employees rounding the corner.</p><p>“I’m sorry to butt in, but the whole time you’ve been here all you’ve done is argue. A Quinceañera is supposed to be fun and…”</p><p>Carla cut her off, “It’s not a Quinceañera.”</p><p>Granted, this particular shop did specialise in Quinceañera dresses and even she had questioned the choice at first until Esteban explained that this shop was their best bet for finding just the right type of big dress required for the pageant. Unfortunately, the thing with Quince gowns was that some of them were a little <em>too big </em>for Carla’s taste.</p><p>“My granddaughter is entering her first glitz beauty pageant,” Luisa explained. “But we’re having some trouble coming to an agreement.”</p><p>“Correction, <em>she </em>– ” Esteban pointed to Carla, only to snap his mouth shut when both her and Luisa gave him a piercing look. “We are having trouble coming to an agreement.”</p><p>Pursing her own lips shut to hold back a biting remark, Carla said in the calmest tone she could muster, “It’s more like, we have different opinions on what’s important in the dress. All I asked was that it be purple, but <em>he </em>says that purple never wins.”</p><p>“I see…” The woman – whose nametag read “Maya” –  trailed off and thought for a moment before turning to Esteban. “And you <em>are</em>?”</p><p>“He’s my pageant coach,” Carla replied before he could.</p><p>Maya blinked slowly, eyes widening slightly as she processed the information. She’d had more than a few pageant girls come into the shop, but usually with their mothers or <em>female</em> coaches. Though there were a few who brought their fathers, she had never seen or heard of a <em>man </em>doing pageant coaching.</p><p>She blinked again, shook the thought off. “Well, if I may, even coaches could benefit from helpful hints every once in a while. And who better to listen to then the girl wearing the dress?” </p><p>“Yes, but – ” Esteban started to interject.</p><p>“No ‘but,’” Maya interrupted. “You say that winners don’t wear purple, but I don’t remember that being written down anywhere.”</p><p>“It is <em>unwritten</em>,” Esteban contested. “In all my research I’ve seen white dresses, pink dresses, even blue dresses, but never purple. And certainly not the dark purple I know she wants.”</p><p>“Who says she can’t be the first, then? Purple is a great colour for her, I mean…” She stepped forward, carefully slid a finger under Carla’s chin and tilted her head up. “Her eyes are <em>gorgeous</em>. It would be a shame to distract from them with the wrong colour or skirt.” She then stepped back, turned back to Esteban.</p><p>“I guess that’s true,” He admitted reluctantly.</p><p>“I have an idea,” Luisa said, “Why don’t you let Carla try on a dress or two that <em>she </em>likes and we’ll go from there?”</p><p>Andrea smiled, commented smugly, “I <em>love </em>that. Carla?”</p><p>Carla nodded. “I’d like that.”</p><p>Maya returned their smiles. “Looks like it’s three against one. Now, Carla, what do <em>you </em>like besides purple?”</p><p>“Hmm…” Carla murmured, carefully pacing the floor. “Something with sparkle, of course. A skirt that’s big but not <em>too </em>big. I want it to be pageant appropriate, but not be swimming in it. Maybe something layered?”</p><p>“How about something that hangs off your shoulders?” Andrea suggested. “And curves around your breasts just enough to show you have them?”</p><p>Carla put her head in her hands, groaned, “Did you have to say it like that?”  </p><p>Maya bit back a laugh. “She may be on to something, though. Don’t get me wrong. You have such a cute little figure, but for a pageant like this, you’ll want to emphasise things a little more. Especially since you’re…”</p><p>“Nineteen,” Carla finished, knowing what the question was.</p><p>“Nineteen looking like a six-year-old who had too much fun at the dress up shop.”</p><p>Esteban scoffed, sat down on the bench next to Luisa. Sure, the pink dress Carla was currently wearing was no one’s favourite, but he didn’t think it looked <em>that</em> bad. The top fit nicely, the ruffled sleeves added just the right touch of cute and if they took the skirt in a little, it would be near perfect. At least, that’s what <em>he </em>thought.</p><p>“So, let me get this right…” Maya said and went over the conditions. “You want dark purple with sparkle. Big but not too big, and makes you look your age.”</p><p>Carla nodded, watched as the older woman started pacing as well before a sudden idea hit her. She stopped, snapped her fingers.</p><p>“I think I have <em>just </em>the dress for you.”</p><hr/><p>Her eyes narrowed in concentration, Maya finished adjusting the laces on the dress she’d found. It had taken longer than she thought to locate it, but she didn’t want to give Carla a half thought out choice. She’d even taken the extra step of putting it in a black bag to hide it so that Carla would get to see it first behind the dressing room door.</p><p>Even before she tried it on, the way the girl’s eyes lit up when she saw it told her everything she needed to know. She smiled to herself at the thought of everyone else seeing it, said as she pulled at the lacing, “I know it’s a little long, but that’s an easy fix.”</p><p>“If that’s the only thing wrong with it, we’re doing good,” Carla quipped, trying her hardest to avoid opening her eyes. While she’d seen it on the hanger, Maya had told her not to look while she put it on, leaving Carla to rely on her movements as she hovered around, pulling, and adjusting various parts of the garment.</p><p>Maya laughed, secured the lacing. “Alright. Done.” She stood, gently put her hand on Carla’s shoulders to guide her. “Now, turn this way. That’s it, one more step. Good. Open your eyes.”</p><p>Carla did as she was told, found herself in front of the mirror in one of the prettiest gowns she’d ever seen herself in. It almost beat her Navidad dress. From the sparkle on the off-the-shoulder bodice that hugged her perfectly down to the beautifully layered tulle skirt that <em>didn’t </em>look like either shredded lettuce or a child’s birthday cake, every detail was perfect.</p><p>Carla gasped, brought her hands up to fan away the tears threatening to well, “I think I’m gonna cry.”</p><p>Maya smiled at her handiwork, reached for the door handle. “Not before you go show off!”</p><p>Carla returned the smile, said nothing more as she stepped out and relished in the gasps and wide-eyed looks she got in response to her dress.</p><p>“Oh, <em>Mi Querida, </em>you look beautiful,” Luisa said with a gasp. Purple really was Carla’s best colour. The dark shade of the dress complimented her eyes perfectly.</p><p>“You look <em>great</em>! They’d be stupid not to crown you,” Andrea remarked.</p><p>“Well, that’s two,” Carla said, looking to Esteban, who cut his eyes over at her.</p><p>He hated to admit it, but the colour <em>did </em>look great on her and the skirt had just the right amount of pouf factor. But something about it still didn’t sit right with him. The dress she currently competed in was a midnight blue, which was great for the smaller events she was used to, but he still wasn’t sure how well such a dark colour would faire at a large event. If the dress were blush pink or pale blue, it would be pageant perfect.</p><p>Esteban sighed, relented. “You do look most enchanting, Miss Delgado. But, as I said, I’m not sure this colour dress is suited for such a grand event.”</p><p>Carla didn’t respond, only twisted her hands in the skirt. She wanted to scream. Just <em>what </em>did she have to tell this man to get him to let her make her own choices? She was more than capable of dressing herself for formal events, brunches and dinner dates. Why was this so different? She turned the words over in her head, opened her mouth to speak and was interrupted when Luisa stepped towards her grandson.</p><p>The older woman stood with her hands firmly on her hips as she looked him straight in the eye, the underlying steel in her gaze telling everyone that she was fed up. “Winning is not everything, Esteban. And sometimes, things can turn out even better than you imagine when you take risks. Remember Naomi’s Quinceañera plus one?”</p><p>Esteban opened his mouth with the intent to counter, but quickly shut it again as his mind went blank. She was right. Even though Naomi had ended up bailing out of her own party to gather her friends who were nowhere near ready for a formal event. They – and her parents, for that matter – had all come in their everyday wear and no one said a word or criticism. In fact, he still heard people singing that night’s praises even three years on.</p><p>Maybe it was true Carla’s dress wasn’t exactly “proper pageant material,” but – and he would never say this aloud – it was also true that he wasn’t right <em>all </em>the time.</p><p>Luisa spoke again, her voice breaking Esteban’s train of thought. “Besides, this is the happiest she’s looked all day. Do you really want to take that away?”</p><p>He glanced over, watched as Carla twirled one way and then the other for Andrea, both women happily giggling over the garment as he realised that, in getting caught up with his research, he’d forgotten why – after that first bid to beat Sarita – Carla even started competing. Dressing up, doing her makeup, and performing on stage for the judges and crowd was <em>fun </em>for her. The awards were appreciated, but more than that, she just liked being a girl and showing off her talents. Besides, considering that she’d already done a decent job of following his tips on every other point for this pageant, he supposed that getting her the dress she picked was the least he could do.</p><p>“Alright,” He finally said, turning to Maya. “We’ll take the purple dress.”</p><p>Behind him, Carla squealed, excitedly grabbed Andrea’s hands as they spun around like two little girls who’d just been told they were going on their first vacation.</p><p>“Alright, alright. Enough of that,” Esteban remarked.</p><p>Luisa laughed, said to Carla, “Go ahead and take that off. Esteban will make sure it gets to the royal seamstress for hemming.”</p><p>Carla nodded, headed back into the dressing room as Esteban spoke again.</p><p>“Wait, you’re not coming back?”</p><p>“Not yet. We still have our girls’ lunch, remember?”</p><p>“Right,” Esteban said, his lips curving into the smallest of smiles.</p><p>Though she was disappointed in having to take the dress off, Carla could feel her remaining tension slipping away as she slid it off and let the material pool at her feet. A familiar mix of anticipation and nervousness bubbled up when she picked the dress back up and returned it to the hanger before reaching for her day dress.</p><p>She’d never done a pageant outside of Avalor before and, though she’d yet to tell anyone, she was nervous about <em>not </em>placing. Despite her luck so far, with pageantry being so much grander across the border, she knew that her choices could be a bit too on the modest side. A side that some might even call boring. She could wind up being nothing more than one of the faces in the crowd, or, worse, someone that stood out for all the <em>wrong </em>reasons. It was something she’d dealt with far too often in her old life and something she didn’t like the idea of returning to.</p><p>But, on the other end, it wouldn’t be the absolute worst thing to happen. Win or lose, her family and friends would love her either way. Unlike some girls whom she saw and felt bad for at pageants, she knew that <em>her </em>family’s love wasn’t conditional. They loved her for who she was, not for the awards she won, or the dresses she wore.</p><p>Even if choosing said dresses was sometimes a battle, she knew that, deep down, even Esteban cared.</p><p>And that was far more precious than any trophy.</p><hr/><p>
  
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